Bailey Flats Photos

When ever the clouds look good I grab my camera and head out. Where I head depends on the time of day, the direction the clouds are going and how much gas I have.

Sadly we haven't had much cloud action lately. So when the clouds aren't happening I tend to look head towards the creeks, rivers, and ponds.

Two days ago I was out driving some of Mariposa's many dirt roads and lost my cell phone. It's designed so it will go 500 miles an hour with as little wind resistance as possible. Unfortunately this aerodynamic design makes it a slippery enough to work it's way out of one's pockets.

Suppose I shouldn't be putting pretty little river rocks in my pocket. You see they tend to head to the bottom pushing the phone toward the top.

So what does this have to do with the Bobcat?

Well thought I'd retrace my steps the next day and see if I could find it. Never did but wound up spotting a couple Bobcats playing in gully. Took these from my car. He actually started coming toward me. So I got the second closer shot.

The area is called Bailey Flats and has a lot of rolling hills covered in oaks, cows, horses, quail, and ground squirrels. Did I forget to mention you have to watch constantly where you walk?

The barn on the left was built in 1942. Met one of the ranchers who filled me in on some of the history of the place. We had a nice long talk and he invited me to come back any time. His family has one of Mariposa's longest streets named after them. Westfall. He owns about 260 acres there. Then there's his sister and cousins who pretty much comprise most of the area.

Apparently he also went to the old Gertrude school that the YWA (Yosemite Western Artists) now use as our club house. Lots of interesting history in these foothills.

The great news is that someone found my aerodynamic phone down there and it will soon be back in my possession. Now back to painting.